Wow. Statement sent via email:
It is with great regret I announce today that I am withdrawing from the race for governor of California. With a young family and responsibilities at city hall, I have found it impossible to commit the time required to complete this effort the way it needs to and should be done.
This is not an easy decision. But it is one made with the best intentions for my wife, my daughter, the residents of the city and county of San Francisco, and California Democrats.
When I embarked on this campaign in April, my goal was to engage thousands and thousands of Californians dedicated to reforming our broken system and bringing change to Sacramento.
I would like to thank those supporters, volunteers, and donors who have worked so hard on my behalf. I have been humbled by their support and am indebted to their efforts. They represent the spirit of change and determination essential to putting California back on the right track.
I will continue to fight for change and the causes and issues for which I care deeply – universal health care, a cleaner environment, and a green economy for our families, better education for our children, and, of course, equal rights under the law for all citizens.
My quick take: Someone else has to jump in the race. There’s no reason to believe anyone else will, or that Dianne Feinstein will. But neither California Democrats, the people of this state, or even Jerry Brown will be served well by an uncontested primary. There are a lot of issues that need to be discussed in this race, and a competitive primary can only produce a stronger candidate (well, as long as it doesn’t turn into a ridiculous mudfest like 2006).
UPDATE by Robert: Matier & Ross and Carla Marinucci cite money woes and “lack of momentum” as reasons for quitting.
…and Evan Halper at the LA Times offers this take:
Although Newsom had been effectively running for more than a year, his campaign never gained much traction. Even in his hometown, which Newsom touted as a model of cutting-edge policies, his candidacy was widely derided among civic insiders.
Perhaps most telling was the absence of support from the major San Francisco donors who helped underwrite Newsom’s successful campaigns in the city. He also drew relatively few endorsements from the ranks of his fellow elected officials.
Newsom had repeatedly told those close to him that he did not want to embarrass himself in the governor’s race.
Are we going to get any alternatives now?
I guess this is one way not to have a grueling primary…
But I’m so much less excited about Jerry Brown. This is depressing.
I really wish we could draft Kamala.
Jackie!
Jackie!
Jackie!
Our party needs a healthy debate about the future before engaging the wingnut GOP choice. Will someone please run?
I have to admit my first response is a sense of relief. Newsom hits all my ideological buttons but I’ve never really been able to tell if there is any substance there. Nobody I hear from who lives in SF seems to particularly like him. I was not really looking forward to having to make a hard decision on whether to trust him or not.
Now that it looks like it’s happening though I am not really looking forward to a certain Brown candidacy either. I admittedly don’t know much about him– I have only lived in CA a few years. But just in a gut reaction it seems like the California state government needs drastic change and innovative Democratic leadership, and it is unclear to me how bringing back the Governor from 1983 provides that. I’m pretty sure I could be convinced Brown is a great candidate and worthy of support, but nobody in the months since Brown announced his candidacy has seemed really interested in doing that convincing– including Brown himself. For example, check out the “issues” page on Brown’s campaign site. There isn’t one. There is a “fighting for you” page describing some of the things he’s done as attorney general? I have no sense of what he’d do as governor, except not be Meg Whitman.
Where does Brown stand on a constitutional convention and/or a frontal attack on prop. 13? Or anything? I don’t know, I need to know where to find out.
I’m surprised only at the timing. For all the hype, the showboaty press conferences, and the lying, he might have gotten a pass from a complacent media. The problem is that he can’t raise money, and won’t. And his record as Mayor would not have played well anywhere in CA, not even SF.
I’m a bit weary of the deriding of Jerry Brown because he was in politics before 2003. He’s far more perceptive of what’s coming, and always has. Re-watch some of his speeches from past campaigns and he’s very smart. Now, is he the best candidate? I dunno.
But at this point you can’t fight something with nothing and all the wishing in the world won’t make “Another Candidate” appear. Yes there is an opportunity but it needs to happen soon, and a half-assed hippie dippie liberal campaign won’t cut it. Did we not learn anything from 2006 and 2008?
Can we get a real Democrat to run now?
Robert Reich? He’s a solid progressive, knows his stuff, has great connections, has incredible name recognition, and is highly respected (both Time’s Top Ten Cabinet Members of the Century and Wall Street Journal’s Top Ten American Business Thinkers).
His only negative is that he ran a few years ago in Massachusetts but he’s been living in Berkeley for the past few years and I don’t think most Californians would care at all.
Is that most Democrats are not really very excited about most of the people who have declared. The one advantage a candidate has who has never held office is that they don’t have a record of governing. That can come back to haunt you (appropriate Halloween reference here).
However, the downside is lack of name recognition. That’s why the GOP recruits “stars”–either from film or industry. They also have the advantage of their own money to put in the race.
Given the lack of excitement for the Democratic candidates exhibited here, the Democrats would have to outspend the Republicans by a lot to overcome this. Especially if Brown keeps acting out on CNBC.
The people who remember him think he’s getting more conservative. The people who don’t will just think he’s crazy.
Recruiting somebody we’d like to support would go a long way toward erasing all these problems. However, I think it has to be somebody who is willing to give up what they’re doing now. Or somebody who is termed out. Heaven knows we have enough of those. What’s Sheila Kuehl doing these days?